​DOOMSQUADFamily Affair

When it was revealed that DOOMSQUAD recorded their 2014 debut, Kalaboogie, around the Ottawa Valley resort town of Calabogie — known for its ski hills, kayaking and rock climbing — it instantly worked as an antithesis to the trio's dark, moody and psychedelic electronic experiments.

After finishing last year's Pageantry Suite EP at a proper studio in their Toronto hometown, sibling trio Allie, Jaclyn and Trevor Blumas decided to write and record their sophomore album in a locale that fit better with their mystic oeuvre: the barren deserts of New Mexico.

"Some of our friends are from New Mexico, we've had the pleasure of playing with them down there and we fell in love with the environment," says multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Jaclyn. "The landscape has a beautiful narrative. Our music changed as the colours of the sand were changing at different times of day."

It wasn't just the energy of the landscape that helped shape the nine tracks that make up the musically adventurous Total Time — the trio brought in Holy Fuck's Graham Walsh to produce, and teamed up with Albuquerque two-piece North America to help with the recording session. "I feel the same sort of bond with my siblings as I do with them," Jaclyn says of the twin brother duo. "There's this beautiful family vibe; I feel like we've all known each other forever."

Returning to Toronto, DOOMSQUAD invited even more guests to participate, including Fucked Up guitarist Mike Haliechuk and legendary singer Mary Margaret O'Hara, but Jaclyn says that it's the special connection she shares with her siblings that helped give Total Time its ultimate personality.

"It's actually crazy how alike our styles are. There are things we disagree on, but when it comes to DOOMSQUAD, we're so on point. I feel really lucky because I've never experienced being able to finish musical sentences with people other than with my brother and sister."